52 reasons
by AloverC
Summary: In this story Percy and Annabeth broke up. One shot of what Percy does. This is sad and the goal of it was to make people cry. It happened in real life, to me. So have fun reading part of my story. NO LONGER A ONE SHOT, WILL BE CONTUNUING. T for advanced concepts and occasional cursing. Warning, storyline may offend you, consider yourself warned.
1. 52 reasons

**Alright people. If you don't want to be sad and emotional. Don't read it. That's all I have to say. Because I was sad and emotional as I wrote it. **

**I do not own Percy Jackson.**

"I'm fine Mom." You manage to say without stuttering.

The door opens anyway, "It's me bud."

You don't look because you know its Grover. And while you are perfectly comfortable with him he does not need to see you like this. If he did he would start crying and then you would have to comfort him, and that is the exact opposite of why he is here.

You feel your best friend sit on the bed but don't move. You're facing the wall with your arms hugging something to your chest. Your legs are staggered, with the leg on top (the left one) out strait and the leg on bottom (the right one) was brought up halfway to your chest.

"C'mon man, get up. Annabeth doesn't like that you're like this."

At the mention of Annabeth's name you clutch the object to your heart tighter.

Annabeth, Annabeth is, was, and always will be your best friend. You can't let her go. She let you go, but you're going to have to live with being in love with your best friend. There's always the chance you will get back together, but what about the pain now?

As you start to think more and more about this sad, slow, and silent tears start to drip sideways down your face as you don't take the time to wipe them up. You start to think about what happened and it causes your sad tears to fall a little faster.

-Flashback-

You are driving to Annabeth's house and you are scared out of your mind. You live fairly close so it's not a big deal to just drive out there. But it is a big deal when your girlfriend responds to your text with, "Why don't you come over so we can talk."

You've been having issues lately between you two. No fighting or anything, but there has been distance. Things haven't been clicking well lately. Some things she says piss you off and you're not really sure why. It's the same things you love about her. The same things you love oh so much about her that do it.

And the majority of the time the fiery passion that use to be there is gone. There are still moments when it's there. But for the most part you are only going through the motions of a day. It pains you to do this, but for some reason you still do. You can't stop yourself, it just happens.

As you pull up into her driveway you can see Thalia and Annabeth just ending an embrace. Before Thalia walks away she catches your eye through the windshield. You only see her for a second before she turns and walks inside, but the look in her eyes and on her face make your heart stop. Pity.

With deft hands and a terrified and look you turn off the car and get out. You turn to see Annabeth standing by a tree, looking down, and her hair creating a curtain around her face. As you walk up you manage to squeak out a greeting before she looks up at you. The tears in her eyes bring you out of your stupor as you instantly hug her. Wanting to do anything you can to ease her pain. You listen to her as she talks. At some point you moved to sit on the back of your car though you can't remember when.

"I just don't know what I want right now. I don't know if I need you like this or if I need another man. Hell, even woman. What do you think?"

You take a moment to choose your next words carefully, "I believe, and always will, that you need to do whatever you need to be happy. If that means you need me that is amazing. If not. That is ok, you'll always be my best friend. And if you'll have be I'll be yours. But take time to think what you need romantically. I'll still be here when you decide."

She doesn't say anything as the strong and beautiful woman begins to cry again. You stand to comfort her and bring her into another embrace.

After several minutes of standing like that she mutters into your shirt, "I do love you. That was always real. You've done so much for me, you've been to hell and back for me. God I'm such a horrible person for doing this, you're amazing."

You shush her and hold her head against your chest, because by this point you know she is confused and scared. And being tied to you is not helping.

"c'mon, I need to go now or I'll won't be able to."

She nods again and you walk her to the door. Where you both kind of stop and just wait. Eventually you cannot hold it back any more and you lash out, cradling the back of her neck and the small of her back, holding her firmly against your lips. You kiss her as passionately and as lovingly as you can, for you know it could be your last. And then you pull back, but don't let her go, instead you pull her closer into a hug. Maybe you squeezed her too tight but she didn't complain.

"Promise me," you say, "that no matter what you choose or who you end up with. They make you feel beautiful. Promise me they will treat you like a queen. Promise me that they will love you and always be there, ok?"

"Ok."

You nod, and with that you let her go, feeling like you're letting much more than a hug go. You wait till she walks in the door, and then turn around and walk to your car. You tense your arms, your hands, your jaw, your stomach. An external sign of the internal battle, its taking every ounce of your willpower to not run inside and kiss her one more time.

Eventually you get to your car and sit down. As soon as the door closes you unclench your body and a heartbreaking sob comes out. Not the silent and sad tears that normally do, no, this is a sob like a child's sob. A loud, choking sob that coming from the deep vocal chords of a man is heartbreaking. You cuss and yell after. Slamming your hand on the steering wheel as you scream to the gods or God, whoever did this, And then let out another deep choking sound as you weep.

You fight it back after a moment and can see through your tears well enough to back out of her driveway. You continue to sob on your drive home and have to stop twice on the side of the road for ou were crying too hard to see where you were going.

Eventually though, you make it home. And go to bed. Grabbing a special deck of cards as you do.

-End flashback-

The past day has been spent in your bed. You didn't go to school because you knew you weren't strong enough yet to see her and not hold her. You can't do that, it would only make things harder for her.

"Percy bud you have to get up. You need to do something, eat something."

"Why?" you ask. Truly wanting the answer. Because no matter how hard you think, you can't think of a reason to get out of your bed. It would only make things harder.

"You need to eat."

"So go get me food." It was not a request on your part, it was a statement. A way to solve this problem of you not eating.

You hear a sigh and the bed shifts as he gets up. Probably to go get you a sandwich or something.

As he's gone you take the moment to look at the deck of cards.

_Fifty-Two things I love about you_

You sigh as you turn over the first card to read the back of it. Even though you have the whole deck memorized by now.

_Percy, read this when you feel you don't deserve me. Or just when you want to know how much I love you. I know this is corny but I mean every word. _

Your eyes glance over to the next card as you start to read and flip through the deck.

The way you smile at me.

The sight of that causes you to sigh. It's going to be hard to smile at her now. You can't look at her without knowing how much you love her. And that she's no longer yours.

Your laugh.

The crinkles you get when you laugh hard.

You chuckle darkly at this.

How only you can make me feel beautiful.

Your heart stops as you start to think.

_Oh gods. I hope that's not true. If it is and she never comes back to me what will happen to her? Whoever she ends up with needs to make her feel as beautiful as she is. Make her realize how much beauty that really is, even though she never fully will comprehend that._

How you say my name.

Reading this makes you realize something, you're going to have to control what you say to her. You can't call her what you usually do. You can't say baby or love to her. You must call her by name, and try to control your emotions as you do.

Your dimples (even though you hate them).

You cringe.

How you made my father love you

You smirk at that. For he truly did like you, called you his future son in law.

Your eyes

How you look in hats

You laugh. One time Annabeth hat put a hat on you and nearly died laughing. Your long unruly hair poked strait out from your ears because of it. Hats do not suit you.

How you always pick on me when you take small bites.

-Flashback-

"Alright," you say, "We're going to settle this once and for all. I have made two identical sandwiches. And we're going to eat it normally to see the ratio of your bite size to mine? Ok."

Annabeth just laughs at you and starts eating the sandwich. When it's all over she does the math and then blushes.

"The ratio is 3:1…" she says

"I told you you took tiny bites!"

-End flashback-

How you're different than everyone else

Even now you don't understand that. You just try to be the best person you can. Doesn't everybody do that?

How you look at me like I'm the loveliest person you've ever seen.

It's not like you had a choice in the matter.

Your sense of humor.

The fact you get so involved in every movie…

… But still don't cry somehow. (I just do not get it!)

Your love for the always disgusting cherry Pepsi

You laugh remembering a time when you were together and she needed a drink to take some medicine and almost spit it back out. Griping about how bad that tasted. It's your favorite soda. You discovered it not long ago, when the Coke was sold out.

The way you can act eighty, twenty-seven, and nine all in the same hour.

You start to cry as you remember a time you and Annabeth were sitting alone on the beach when you started talking. "So, how old do you want to be before we get married?" you ask very seriously, and she answers.

"Well. For sure out of college. So by 22. And then we need time to get financially stable. And then some time to just enjoy each other. How about 27? That sounds like a good number."

You smile, "twenty seven it is then."

Some time passes before you speak again. "I want to be old and retired."

It was so unexpected Annabeth laughed out loud.

"What?"

"I want to retire," you repeat yourself, "When you're old everything has already happened, you don't have to worry about that. Plus you don't have to work and you never have to wear pants. The only bad part about being old is you have to watch the people around you die."

"Oh. That got all doom and gloom fast," she said.

"Yeah… c'mon this is sad. Let's go play tag." You yell, "You're it" over your shoulder as you run away from her laughter.

How good you are with kids.

How you always rub my back just because I love it.

You smirk sadly remembering how many times she had said, "Hey, can you rub my back?" with the puppy dog eyes over her shoulder as she flipped her hair out of your hands way.

Your chivalry.

To this day she has not paid for something when you were around. Not because she is dependent on you, but because you refuse to lose the check dance, it's the kind and correct thing to do.

How I can trust you with anything and everything

The way you look when you drive

By this time you are sobbing into your bed sheet, silently. There are heavy tears and you can feel yourself begin to shake, but there is no sound. Which for some reason makes you cry more. You can't stop yourself. But you keep flipping through the cards, it does not matter that you can't read them anymore, your eyes are too blurry, you have every one memorized now.

Your passion. Even for the little things.

You think back to what she might be talking about, then you think of something.

-flashback-

"Dude Nico. Why the crap is the belt for your scabbard all twisted? Its really bugging me."

"I just think it feels better this way."

"Nico… its going to like catch on something and fall off of you… that didn't even make sense to me. But will you please fix it?"

All the while Annabeth is just laughing at the strange antics and things you notice

-end flashback-

You love me despite the fact I'm laced with flaws.

She always says that. But you can't see it, for how can you see flaws in what you base perfection off of?

The light you bring. To not only me, but to everyone around you.

How strong you are.

You think back on everything you've been through together. All the difficult ones, magical and non-magical, and how you only survived because of each other. In all of them.

You can handle how stubborn I can be.

How stubborn YOU can be.

You almost laugh if not for the tears leaking down your face. You two weren't in many fights, but because of those two things, the ones you were in were bad.

Your stupid little jokes

Your faith, in everything.

You guess you did always try to find the brighter side of things and hope for that. Up till now it has kept you alive

The way you look at me when I laugh

Your loyalty, to me and everybody you love

Your hair

The fact you can't cook… at all

How lovely your singing voice is

You think back to all the times in sing along at camp when you sat next to her and sang your heart out just to see her smile. No matter what stage of puberty you were in

Your intelligence.

You still don't get that one.

How you always say I look beautiful

You do, and sometimes not on purpose, it just slips out. Because it's true

You always know when something is wrong.

Your confidence

How you made me fall in love with you

You read that a few times. And then say to yourself, "Guess I didn't do a very good job."

Your eyes show just how you feel.

How you dance

How open minded you are.

Never stop trying to smile, even on my worst days.

What most people don't know is that Annabeth has a problem with body image. And due to this there are many times where she is hurting. And few times that the only thing keeping her alive is you. You have been through much together. More than anybody deserves to in one lifetime. Which is why, when somebody tries to talk to you about her you can't hold your temper. And tell them to back off saying, "Don't talk about her like you know her. And don't talk like you know anything about us."

You treat me like I'm the only girl that matters.

"That's because you are. Even if you don't know it." You mutter to yourself.

Our first kiss.

_Don't forget about our last kiss_, you think.

How you let me drag you around the mall

You made me believe in love (corny but true)

You let out a sad smile.

You treat me like a queen.

You have made me a better person

I know you'll never give up on me.

You're everything I wanted and more.

You stare at those words a long time. Eventually you stop your tears. And shortly after Grover comes back in, sandwich in hand.

You think him for it and sit up to the edge of the bed, him in a chair across from you.

As you're picking at your food with your head hanging low you say something.

"What did you say?" he asks leaning forward to try and hear you.

You pick your head up and look him in the eyes, yours filled with tears almost to the brim, the look on your face causes him to flinch slightly.

"I said I guess it was the "and more" that got her"

**There you go people. Just so you know, this is the position I am currently in… sort of. Please review, maybe it will make me feel better. If you want to PM me and get the full story, maybe you're just a nosey person, feel free to as well. May as well talk to somebody, and I don't know any of you people.**


	2. chapter 2

**Hello again everybody. I know I said this would be a one shot. But I wanted to write something, and considering this saga is overtaking my entire life and I can't think of anything else… this will be continued, let's see where this goes. **

**I don't own Percy Jackson.**

3rd person

Grover left shortly after that, he made an excuse as for why he had to go, but Percy knew the real reason. The sadness that was radiating off of him was starting to seep into Grover. So Percy couldn't blame him for leaving.

Percy rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, hoping to find answers.

"_Crap, its Thursday today, which means I still have to go to school tomorrow… and see Annabeth…" _Percy's train of thought died out as he tried to think of a way to make it through tomorrow.

Eventually, given the long day of heartbreak coupled with the hour of night it was, Percy fell asleep.

The next morning he woke up at 7:17. The time he normally does for school. Wake up at that time, get dressed, and leave by 7:30. It was a tried and true routine that had served him well enough in the past. As well as give him some time with Annabeth before first period.

Percy dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, and a long sleeve blue shirt. As he was about to walk out the bedroom door he grabbed both his keys and the deck of cards, which he put in his pocket.

The drive to school seemed lonelier than in the past. The radio didn't seem to cheer him up as much as in the past and the brisk September morning seemed to bite a little more. Fittingly, there was a heavy overcast plunging the world around him into darkness. Even without his powers he could feel the rain soon to come.

The drive provided him with the clear enough head to think. "I need to give her a little space… but how much?"

You see, not only was Percy still in love with Annabeth, she was still in love with him. The problem lies in the fact that she discovered she is a pansexual. **(look it up, I don't understand it well enough to explain myself, best I can tell, its being attracted to people regardless of gender. Not the same as bisexual.) **Because Annabeth had made this discovery, she felt the need to explore her sexuality. Which is a legitimate reason. Nobody can fault her for that, but it leaves Percy in a bit of a bind. He knows, beyond any kind of doubt that he loves her. He will either marry her, or he will not marry. He knows that and it doesn't matter what anybody says, whether they believe him or call him a naïve kid, it does not matter, it's still true.

He decided, if it is physical attraction that is confusing her, he just will not have any physical contact with her. He will still walk her to class and so on. He just won't touch her.

His mind made up, Percy walked to the doors of the school. He could see Annabeth sitting on "their" bench with their friends, but she hadn't seen him yet. Percy took a deep breath to steel his nerves before opening the door and walking in, a forced smile on his face, and his hand over the pocket holding 52 reasons.

Percy crashed to his bed with a sigh. He had just gotten home. He glanced at the clock, it said 3:48. Despite the fact that he lived close to the school, Annabeth can't drive, and a while ago Percy volunteered to take her home every day. He loves those drives with her and isn't letting this take it away from him. They are the some of the few times they can just be themselves with each other, in the solitude of his truck, where there are no expectations from anybody.

Annabeth didn't seem to mind that he still walked her to class, and so the day had gone alright. Or as well as it could be considering he spent the majority of it within five feet of the love of his life without being able to touch her. There was a bit of a situation when Percy accidentally grabbed Annabeth's hand as they sat down for lunch. But it ended quickly and there weren't any other incidents today.

Well, other than the classes that he didn't have Annabeth with him, and when she had her back to him. In the long lonely hours without her and in the brief moments she was not facing him he took a breather. Letting his mask fall and allowing his heartbreak be seen on his face. The bad thing about this was he started to get worried looks. Who cares if people give him weird looks, he just didn't want anybody to ask him about it. At least not while Annabeth was there, because then she would figure out how much she was hurting him and feel bad. That can't happen, Annabeth must be happy at all costs.

Other than those moments and those questioning looks the day had gone fairly well. The car ride had not even been awkward. They hadn't acted like past lovers at that time, they had acted like best friends. Which they were.

"One down…" Percy said with a sigh, getting out of his bed to start working on his English, which he was obviously struggling with.

**Tada. There you go people. If this offended you in any way I apologize and I suggest you do not continue reading. **

**If you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to ask me in a pm or review. They make my day when I get them. And yes, I am aware it is very short. **

**AC out**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we go again everybody. Special thanks to Princess Of Flames, thank you for all you've done.**

**I do not own Percy Jackson**

First person

Nine days. Nine days of torture including today. Nine days I have spent grinding my teeth instead of touching the love of my life. Nine days I have spent watching other people, both male and female, openly flirting with the woman for me. I can't even be mad at them, because I have no claim over her, and the biting of my tongue only adds on to the suffering of these nine days.

Luckily, I still have the car rides with her. The car rides are the only thing keeping me sane now, the only thing giving me hope. Today, instead of taking her strait home, I bought her a slush just so we would have longer together. Our time in the car is amazing, it's where everything seems right. There are no other people. And there is no suffering. It's just Annabeth and I, being us. Singing too loud and making bad jokes.

It's about four now and I just got home. I crash onto my bed after a long day of keeping my hands in my pocket and my tongue at bay. But all is well. Because today, before Annabeth walked into her house, she asked me to get to school a little bit earlier so that we could talk.

I'm flying high, because that can only mean a couple things. It either means that we're breaking up, getting together, or something big has happened.

We're already broken up. So it can't be that.

She tells me everything as soon as it happens, so it's not that.

What does that leave? That leaves –if I play my cards right- a chance. And that's all I can ask for.

7:02. I look up from my watch, and catch a glimpse of Annabeth's ride to school (she has one to school every day, I'm just the return trip). At first I'm terrified because this can either end perfectly or horribly. Then she smiles at me, and it's as if all the fears of what might be are no longer there.

Before I know it she's standing in front of me, out front of the school.

"Hi," I say giving her a smile.

She smiles back, "Hi," she says, teasing me.

I roll my eyes laughing and she continues, serious now, "you want to go talk in your car?"  
>I agree and we start the silent walk that seems to take forever, though its only fifty feet or so.<p>

Before long she shuts the door and turns to look at you. You give her a smile to break the ice.

"So…" she says, "How have you been?"  
>"You want the real answer or the rehearsed one?" I say, perfectly serious and strait faced.<p>

She gives you a strange look, it's a cross between confusion and concern, creating lines on her forehead, "The real one of course."

I take a deep breath, then choose your words carefully.

"I'm horrible. Not being with you is killing me. I want you to be happy, but I want to be the one to make you happy. I want to make you feel like you make me."

There's a long pause. And then, "You do, you make me happier than anybody else and you mean the world to me. But I need to figure myself out. I need to know what to do with myself. I've never been single while knowing I'm pansexual, I feel like I need to try it. Speaking of, what do you think of my being pansexual?"

I chuckle and say, "I don't care what you say you are. I don't think pansexuality is real anyway."  
>She starts to get angry and say something but I cut her off before she can.<p>

"I don't believe in "pansexuality,"" I say, creating air quotes as I do. "I don't believe in homosexuality. I don't believe in any part of the bisexual spectrum. And I don't believe heterosexuality is real either."

I rush out that last sentence before she explodes, because by now her face is beat red. Once I say that, she calms and gains a confused look. Urging me to continue, "I don't believe in any of the sexualities you do. I believe that there is either somebody out there for you or there is not. If there is somebody for you, it's the only person for you. It's the person who completes you physically, mentally, aand chemically.

"Because that's what "Love" is, it's a chemical. The person you're to be with, is the person your brain permanently grows around and releases that "love chemical" in association to. And one cannot possibly know what "sexuality" they are without knowing what gender that one person for them is.

"So no, I have no problem with you saying you're pansexual and doing this ("this" referring to our break up). Because you're the person that completes me. I want you to know if I'm the same to you. If I am that's amazing, if not, then you need to find whoever it is and be happy with them. If for no other reason, then for me. Because I need you to be happy. Every year I spend in pain is worth a second of your happiness. Though honestly, I really don't want to have to make that choice, I don't want to because I want to be the one to make you happy. I want a chance to make you feel like you can make me feel. All I want is the chance…" I trail off at that.

There's a long pause not. There's nothing else to say, so I simply wait for her response. Minutes pass, and then finally she says, "Ok… ok." She says, then peels her eyes off the dashboard and sets them onto you. "You win." And with that there's nothing left to say, she said yes to my unspoken question. I lean over to her and pull her close, kissing her, trying to make up for the lost moments.

After a while we pull apart, "So," I say, "your kisses are even better than I remember."

She laughs and I smile.

**There you go everybody, if I confused you I apologize, I tried my best.**

**And if I offended you I also apologize and suggest you don't continue reading.**

**Lastly, if you were wondering. In real life, while we did get back together one morning in my truck. Percy's little "speech" about sexuality, didn't work haha.**

**Thank you, please review, this is NOT the end, keep reading.**

**AC out. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for reading, here we go again.**

**I do not own Percy Jackson. **

Things were back to normal. But one thing was still on my mind. Shortly after we got back together Annabeth said this: "I love you, but I'm still confused. I'm still a teenager. I'm going to try things and I'm going to do things you don't approve of. I've been high a couple times and I've been drunk a couple times. I know how you feel about drugs and alcohol, but I can promise you, I'm not addicted to anything. I don't do it often and I make sure I'm in a good mood before I do, I don't want to become reliant on it any more than you want me to. I can count the number of times I've done it on both hands. But I am a teenager, and I will continue to try things, I need you to know that."

I simply told her that we would get to that when we came to it, and then kissed her again.

But now I couldn't shake it off my mind. Any time she was with somebody else and I wasn't there I got nervous. Then one day, she told me she was hanging out with her friend Emiley…

…this is where I started to act badly…

I said this: "promise me something will you?" and when she said alright I told her, "Promise me you won't get high. Promise me you won't get drunk. I know it's pushy of me to ask this of you but for many reasons- moral, medical, and logical- please promise me you won't. Please"

She couldn't make that promise. She said that she was young, and at some point she would do it again, be it tomorrow or years from now. So she didn't want to bullshit me and say that she never would again.

Looking back now, I wish she had bullshit me. Because her logical "no" only made me angry, and frustrated. And so I made a mistake.

"I have done everything for you. I have brought you back from the brinks of hell and protected you from the cruel world as much as possible. I have altered how I live my life and how I LOOK at life for you.

"I have to wait an hour after you go to sleep to do so myself, and I force myself to wake up before you because I'm terrified of what might happen while I rest.

"Every decision I make is to better you. You're the first thing I think of when I wake up and ergo the ONLY reason I even get up. I do everything in my power to protect you – not because you can't yourself but because you shouldn't have to- and you can't make me one fucking promise?"

She understandably got angry, I messed up. And now I don't know how to fix it. We're still together, but my outburst led to a bit of a nasty fight.

I know I messed up. But what I said is not what I wanted to, I only got frustrated. All I wanted to do was protect her. I don't trust this world at all and anything in it. I just want her to be safe, and happy.

But it came out as controlling. And if there's one thing Annabeth will not stand for, it's something controlling her. Gods, what do I do?

Turns out, the best thing to do was apologize for my harsh and rash words, and move on. It's not a problem currently, why make it one? So we've decided that we will deal with that when we come to it, and enjoy each other now.

Though, our "enjoyment" of each other seems a little dulled at the moment. It seems as though we're just going through the motions. I know that she is the one for me, there is no doubt to that, but what is casing this distance between us? Maybe she only needs more time. We were only apart for a small amount of time. Maybe it wasn't long enough for her.

I had my mind set shortly after that, Halloween and out anniversary were coming up soon (we decided to keep our original anniversary date) **(I realize that their anniversary is not near Halloween, but mine and Her's was November 2****nd****, and it's important to the storyline, so use your imagination). **If our anniversary comes, and we are still distant like this, I'll break up with her, and force myself to give her more time, and more space. Because it will be clear by then if she didn't have enough.

In the meantime though, I need to start working on what we will do on our anniversary…. Oh crap, and my English!

**DO NOT SKIP PLEASE READ.**

**I hope you notice that, because there is reason for it. This story is marked as T, and for good reason as you can see. Because there is no good way to fit this into the story without it being kind of choppy, and it's not something Percy will just throw out there, I'll just say it. Annabeth and Percy have lost their virginity to one another in this story, you may have already gathered that but if you did not, here you go, you should know that.**

**Once again, I apologize if this has offended you in any way and I recommend you stop reading now, it won't be changing anytime soon.**

**Thank you for reading.**

**AC out.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again everybody. Thank you again for reading and I appreciate the reviews. Keep them coming.**

**I do not own Percy Jackson**

I know what to do, I have figured it out. I know how to make Annabeth happy, and how to bring up my English grade (because Annabeth is really on my back about it).

Since mom's got that raise she's bought me a laptop. She called it a thank you for saving the world, only condition is I can't use the internet, because as you know it's a beacon for monsters and mom doesn't want one to come trash our apartment… Giant monster in the house and mom's worried about it breaking her vase… but I agreed, and now have a laptop.

And using that laptop, to help my English grade as well as appeal to Annabeth, I have started writing short stories. Typically they aren't any good. But it has helped my grades, so that's worth it. Plus, Annabeth loves writing, so if I can write, I bet it would make her happy.

It has also helped me to plan what to do on our anniversary (which is coming up soon). I've got it all planned out. And if falls on a Sunday this year, so we don't have to work around school schedules. We have all day.

Right now I'm sitting in world history listening to coach G. go on and on about Roman history **(really in that unit right now, ironic isn't it?)** Because of what it is being taught, I'm not really paying attention, it's the last period of the day, and I'm ready to just go home. I'm ready to work on Annabeth's present that I'm writing.

Yes I said writing. Percy Jackson, dyslexic, Greek hero, is writing a love poem for my girlfriend. Tease me if you so please, but if it makes her happy all is worth it. Plus, as soon as the bell rings I get to take Annabeth home, and spend a few minutes with her.

I spend the last nine minutes of class looking back and forth from the clock to Annabeth- who is still paying attention. I try to memorize every part of her but never can seem to do it. I always think I have it down but as soon as I see her again everything is even more amazing or beautiful than in my head. I've come to the conclusion that it is an impossible task made more improbable by times of romantic crisis.

But I still try, because if something happens and it is my last time to see her, I want to remember her perfection as well as I can, for as long as I can.

The bell rings and we stand up. She smiles at me and I hold the door with one hand, bow overdramatically, and motion for her to go through with the other, she laughs and we walk out of the class, towards my truck.

The drive was just as amazing as always.

I'm home now and I'm rereading my paper kind of thing for Annabeth. Whatever it is, it's better than anything else I've ever writen. Everything else has been crude and short sighted, this flowed right out of me. Now I'm proof reading it to check over it. Again, and again, only the best for her.

Eventually I stopped for the night and went to bed.

Sunday, finally. Annabeth had been busy Saturday, but we had planned for me to come over Sunday. Which I of course was exited for. I'm always exited to see her, some may call it puppy love. I call it adoration. Because truly that is what it is, I adore her and always will.

I pulled into her drive about one, (we woke up about noon…) and I walked into her house. Her step mom was in the chair and she was sitting on the couch, watching TV. I walked right on over and plopped right on down beside her, cracking a bad joke as I did.

Something was off though, there was a stain in her laugh and an odd look in her eye. I couldn't quite place what it was or what it meant, but I did know it wasn't good.

We watched TV for a while and it didn't go away, so I suggested we go outside, then I can talk to her about it if needed. Or maybe just hold her.

We go outside and sit down on my truck's tailgate. She sits beside me. But doesn't take my hand, and doesn't acknowledge me when I put my arm around her. So I stop trying to do things, and we sit in silence for a while. Until she breaks it.

"I wanted this to work…"

I hear it, and it hits me like a train, "wanted," that is past tense.

"I know." I want to say so much more, but I also know that she needs to do whatever she needs to do to be happy, it's what I want from her. I am attracted to her and only her, forever. And I love her and only her, forever. But as I know, she needs to sort this out.

"I know," I say, "give me just a second."

As I walk to the back seat of my truck to get out my laptop I'm talking to her, "I wanted to give you this on our anniversary, but it's ready now…" I trail off and hand her the laptop, with the document pulled up for her to read.

**(I really did this, with this document exactly, and this was her real response by the way.)**

The Girl

I cannot say I was broken, for I was not. I was a perfectly healthy young man. Albeit maybe a little sad, but it was my own fault, and it was fading quickly. But on the rare instances now when I to look at what was to come, I would have been steamrolled.

But I was not, because I was hit by a train. A train embodied by a girl

She waltzed into my life like she owned it. And from that point on, there was no "like" about it, she did. She was who I wanted to spend my days with. Spend my nights with. And every moment in between I wanted to speak with her. That girl hit me like a train when she came.

A runaway train. Because while she was a powerful force when on course she was just as powerful off of it, and once a train starts to derail it takes a lot of energy coming from a brute to push it back on. I was a brute, and I was happy to do it, for the girl.

Not only did I do it out of selfish necessity- for I needed her to be happy- but I also did it out of what would soon become love of the girl

The world says "love" a lot. In places where it shouldn't always be. I may not have said it then but I sure as hell will now. I love that girl. I always will.

She became a part of me. My life started to revolve around her. And then, all of a sudden, it did. My everything depends on the girl, and that's just the way I want it. I want to feel fulfilled when I can hold her and be heartbroken when she is gone.

Again, the girl has changed me, she has made me see love in attraction in a different way, both from how she does and from how I used to. She has made me caring, and patient, and sympathetic where I was calloused and raw. She has made me able to speak. And my everything, is now worth something, because of the girl

It's always the girl. Again and again I do things, because of the girl.

I get out of bed in the mornings, only to see the girl again.

I save up money, only so I get to spend it on the girl

I speak, again, only for the girls smile

If she is not with me I don't speak, for why talk if there is nothing important to say, and if she is not there, there is nothing worth voicing. However, when she is near I am content to stare. I am happy to spend the hours added together to create my life watching her.

From her soft skin to her softer eyes, she is perfection embodied in my hard ones. Because nothing that is that beautiful can't be perfect, there is no way to improve upon that girl.

That girl has made me a jealous and protective man. And she does not always understand that. She does not understand why I must wait until I know she is asleep before I fade into rest myself. She does not understand why I ask the things I do of her. She does not understand why I do the things I do, and I do not want her to. I don't want her to because I don't do them so she acknowledges it, I do it for the girl.

Everything I do. I do for that girl. Every decision I make, for her. Because somehow and somewhere it will help her. It will make her life bearable, or easier, or maybe it's just something to put a light in her day so that when she is hurting later, she will have something else to focus on. Anything, and everything, I would do, for the girl.

Every sacrifice I make I will carry out a hundred times over only for her to tilt the edges of her lips towards her oh so beautiful eyes.

You, you girl once gave me reasons to love me, I have another:

53.) You cannot shake me. You cannot lose me if you wanted and you cannot scare me away, I will be there, forever and always.

At the end of every fight I will stand amongst the crows feasting on the casualties of our conflict and look, with adoring eyes, to you, the girl.

Every time we butt heads I will pull back, because while I am a stubborn man, no amount of frustration is worth driving the girl away from me. Not every topic I feel strongly about combined would be worth losing the girl. Nothing is, nothing in this world equals anything that girl ever was, is, or will be. And I will surrender all in my world for her, happily, and faithfully.

Because I love that girl. In this life and the next, again and again. Forever and always, I love you.

We sit in silence for a while, then she hands me the computer again and says, "That's really, really sweet."

I sigh, "I was going to take you on a date. I was going to take you to the movies first, and then to dinner. Then I was going to take you down to the old creek and we would go skinny dipping. We've never done that before. And then, after we were done, I'd show you all the pillows and blankets I had in the back of my truck and we could lay there, our body heat warming each other while you read that." I take the deck of cards out of my pocket so that she can see them. "As soon as you were done reading that I would have read off every card by memory alone, I've read it through many times now…"

I trail off and there is silence for a while. Then Annabeth speaks:

"I love you…I'm sorry."

**Anybody cry? Tear up? Cause I am as manly a man as they come, I played every sport you can think of and loosen rusty bolts with my hands, I cried a little on the way home shortly after that. I'll happily say it. **

**By the way, we broke up that day, and then we sat there sad for a while. Then I cheered her up by starting a game of tag. I left a while later and she went inside to eat dinner. But not before exchanging "I love you"s **

**Thank you for reading, please review everybody.**

**And keep reading, this is not where it ends.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the sporadic updating everybody. **

**Now that that is out of the way, here we go. We're about to catch up to the present.**

**I do not own Percy Jackson in any way.**

"I'm sorry"

The words resonated in me that whole drive home. It was filled with so much pity. And the former, "I love you" so much guilt. She had explained herself. She really did love me she said –which I knew- she just felt that things weren't the same as they were before. That's true, and it's the same reason I would have done it after the second had things not gotten better. She simply beat me to it. That's alright, I don't want to mess up what we will have by being greedy now. Better to get out all my suffering now that in a series of small break ups because I'm confining her to me when she should have been figuring herself out.

That is at least, what I've been telling myself. It's been about a week since we broke up for the second time, and is Thursday now. We're going to get some French fries before I take her home. On impulse I reach out to touch her hand. Halfway there I realize what I'm doing. I try and play it off by messing with the radio, but she catches me, "What was that?"

"What?" I ask her, trying my best to sound innocent.

She gives me a strange look saying, "You know, I'm not going to smite you for touching me."

I make a joke and say, "You know how to do that? Any chance you could teach me?"

She laughs and takes my hand. Grasping it tightly in response to her I think for a moment, _well this is odd… oh well, it's her that is needing to figure things out. I'll just let her do whatever it is she pleases. I know exactly what I want so her touching ME can't really effect any decision I make. And I really miss the way her hand feels in mine…._ And with that, I decide that I will simply let her do whatever she pleases, and I'll simply play along.

Soon we walk into the burger place –still holding hands- and order two large drinks and two large French fries. We sit and eat like we used to, everything is good. I take her home after that and when I put the car in park nobody moves. Then she smiles, thanks me for the food and kisses my cheek before going inside her house.

My face burns where she touched me for the rest of the day.

On what would be our anniversary we never saw each other. She had things to do and I had to work, we couldn't use the anniversary excuse because we weren't really dating. But we texted each other all day. I didn't mention it being a special day at all and neither did she. Then, at about midnight, she decided to go to sleep. I told her goodnight, and happy anniversary.

She said she had been thinking about it since the moment she woke up.

Several weeks have passed now and while the pain is more bearable and not as often, now I'm very confused. Annabeth, Grover, Juniper and I were at a football game. Grover and I were walking to where Annabeth and Juniper were and on the way Grover said, "Look, I can see my lady friend and your…your…" he pauses, not knowing what Annabeth really is to me, so I continue for him. "My ex- girlfriend current best friend –with benefits- that I'm in love with?"

"Yeah, that," he says.

I look at him, "It's complicated"

Yes, I did say friends with benefits. There is a little bit of uh, well, hanky panky going on between us. I don't think it is a problem, she initiated it and considering she is the only person I am attracted to, it's really hard to say no.

Like on our way to her house after that game, we are all meeting there to hang out for a while after the ballgame (which we lost badly), and we were taking different cars. Let's just say there was actions by Annabeth while I was driving to suitable for all audiences.

When we got to her house everybody went inside and got her candy, some blankets and then we spread them out in the bed of my truck. We sat there for a while, telling jokes and stories until Grover and Juniper left. After we waved goodbye to them as they drove away she climbed back into my truck with me and sat on my lap with her head on my shoulder. We just sat in the dark and the silence for a long while, listening to each other breath for a long while.

At some point I think her step mother came out and saw us, but when she did she turned around and went back in.

At one I woke up. Annabeth was still asleep so I carried her in (getting out of the bed was quite a feat) and laid her to bed. Leaving her blankets where she keeps the dirty clothes in her room and helping her get out of her blue jeans (just to be more comfortable). Then, with her safely tucked into her bed, I turned out the lights. And drove home.

**Well there you go. Everybody please feel free to review and it doesn't all have to be praise, I value criticism as well and ay review makes my day.**

**Also, I apologize if this story offends you in any way and if it did I urge you to stop reading it.**

**AC, out**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everybody. More reviews would be lovely people. By the way, I considered changing this story to M and actually adding in the lemons but I have pretty well decided not to. What do you think?**

**Should probably catch up with the present in this entry.**

**Without further stalling, I do not own Percy Jackson**

The next day was Saturday, and that day I didn't go over to her house. I had homework I obviously didn't get done Friday. After what felt like ages working on English I took a break because my head hurt too bad to continue.

I checked my phone to see if Annabeth had texted me back. She hadn't. I sigh and go into the kitchen to find some food.

Eventually she does, she is hanging out with one of our friends from school.

An uneasy feeling settles in my stomach. Something bad is happening, so I ask her what they are doing.

She says they are just talking, and that she has to go so she can talk. Another time I might have been ok with it, but right then her words hit hard, "Oh, alright" I said. And then I didn't talk to her again.

Ten minutes.

Thirty minutes.

An hour.

Two hours.

All the while I spend that time waiting by the phone. Waiting for her to text or call or something. Anything.

Having been through what I've been through, I don't trust anything. Or anybody. And especially not with her.

The only thing I fear anymore, is that the things I hate will overtake those which I love.

After three hours I go take a shower. By the time I get out she still has not talked to me. So I shoot her a text to make sure she's ok.

She doesn't answer.

Three o'clock in the morning. I'm lying in bed, and I'm trying to not freak out. I had given up on going to sleep. I'm too terrified by the "what if's" that I can't, and so I have contented myself in my bed.

I get a text from her. "Heya" is all it says.

I lose it. I'm so relieved and yet scared at the same time. I ask her if she's ok, and where she's been.

She answers, "Oh I'm fine. We were just talking. Why are you still up? I'm going to go to sleep. You should too."

"Well ok. Goodnight. Call me if you need anything."

I hit my punching bag once, knocking the stand over, and then laid down.

I didn't go to sleep that night.

The next day was Monday, school again. Things seemed pretty normal. And they did all day. Everything went just as normal. Walked Annabeth to just about every class, took her home and stayed there for a while before coming home, struggling with my homework, and going to sleep.

Then Tuesday came. It went fairly normally up until lunch. When Annabeth started talking to her friends. I wasn't part of the conversation, but it was happening right beside me, so of course I heard it. So I stopped it, "wait wait wait, WHAT did you do Sunday?"

She made an interesting face and said the last thing I had expected. "Ouija board."

"I…uh… why?"

She smiled, "Because it's really interesting to-"

"No," I cut her off, "why didn't you tell me?"

She almost blushed, "Because I thought you'd be angry with me"

"You're damn right I'm mad, but I'm even angrier you didn't tell me." By now she has realized that I'm not playing around and so she stopped trying to be all cute. I continued, "I've learned by now that I can't stop you from doing whatever you want. By begging you or proving with facts that it is bad. But the least you could do is tell me so that I can BE THERE." I try and restrain my yelling but barely being able to.

The friend she was talking to saw my obvious anger and left, which I was grateful for.

She starts to get angry because I am and says, "I took all the right precautions. And who are you to judge? You've been to the damn underworld several times."

"And never once was it voluntary. I went because circumstances demanded it, not because I was "interested" in it. We both know that this is real, but apparently only I know that it is a bad idea to do.

"I know I cannot stop you from doing anything, but next time, when you're going to do this –or anything else you don't think I approve of- tell me. So that I can be there. Ok? Please." And with that the conversation ended.

A couple hours later, I'm meeting Annabeth in the halls to walk her to our last period. She's really excited, so I smile at her (I've calmed down significantly by now). She smiles again and says, "I know what I'm doing today after school. I'd love it if you join us, anyway, Emiley (the girl she had been talking to at lunch) wants to try the Ouija board again today."

There is a pause while I take a deep breath, "alright."

And with that. I'm committed to coming with them, it's not like I can let them go by themselves if I wanted to. I come home with her for a bit while we wait on Emiley to get there, and for it to get dark.

Finally she gets here and we all get in my truck to go to the area they want to.

On the drive there I'm silent, while the girls sing along to the radio, like I normally would. Annabeth gives me strange looks, but doesn't comment on it.

About an hour later we are sitting in a burger place, laughing and telling stories. Soon we leave there and take Emiley home, on the drive Emiley says, "I feel like Percy things this is all just bull and a waste of time." She is human completely. And doesn't know what we, and I, have been through."

I look at her. For one moment not caring to control what people see in my eyes. She nearly flinches, and I speak, "No. you misunderstand. I very much believe in all of this, I know that its real and I have seen scarier things than you can imagine." Speaking to Annabeth now, "you say you take all the right precautions and that you are safe. But you of all people know that life –in all forms- is about crossing boundaries and breaking restraints. There is always a way out and life –in all forms- always eventually finds it.

"Even so, you know there are people down there I'd love to talk to," Emiley gets a strange look when I say "down there", "but even if I get the chance I cannot take it. Humans live very delicately, if somebody died it's because them and their knowledge no longer had a use in this world. To bring that knowledge back into the world can bring only harm. You know that, think throughout history. You know this."

Silence reigns in the car, and soon we drop off Emiley, telling her goodnight. Then I take Annabeth home, kissing her goodnight.

On my drive home alone I get a text and glance at it, it's from Annabeth:

"I think I'm going to lay off the Ouija stuff for a while."

**Alright there you go people. **

**Let me clear up a few things **

**The point of this chapter is not to point out that the storyline of this story will be changing. It is to show that Percy is beginning to get through to Annabeth when he talks, as shown in the text.**

**Percy is not texting while driving, he simply read the text and only answered it when he got home. **

**If this offended you in any way I am sorry, there will be no more spirit stuff I think. If something from a previous chapter offended you I also apologize and recommend you do not continue reading. (Its like a game, see how many people are still reading by the end of the story haha)**

**Lastly, if you have a compliant about the storyline and the issues it covers I would like it if you PM'd me so that I may have a private conversation with you about it. If you have a technical problem with the format please put it in the reviews so that everybody can better from it. **

**Thank you for reading everybody. Please review it makes my day. **

**AC, out.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello again everybody. Sorry if the updates are sporadic and whatnot. I have things other than writing in my life haha, as I'm sure you all do too.**

**Anyways, we'll catch up to the present in this chapter, please enjoy.**

**I do not own Percy Jackson.**

Thanksgiving is coming up, as well as the rest of the holiday season. Which in short means…

It's cold.

Yes, the great Percy Jackson is shaking in his boots. Though not because I'm scared. Its just so. Damn. Cold. It's November for the gods' sake!

It's alright though. It's worth it. Actually, everything is worth it at the moment. Its Friday again, and because our schools going to the playoffs (they don't really deserve to go, didn't earn it by far **AN. In real life my schools team lost 47-0 in the first round… just in case anybody wanted to know… better than we did last year sadly…**) we all got out early. Annabeth and I were talking to some friends and we decided to go get lunch and then hang out at Annabeth's house. So we went out to this Asian place and then come over to where we are now. Our other friends left a while ago, so now we are sitting on the tailgate… in the cold.

I think back on earlier today.

Flashback

We're all eating and making conversation. I say something funny and mason (Emiley's boyfriend and my friend) laughs really hard. Like, his drink came out of his nose kind of hard. So I look him in the eye saying, "It's not that funny" with a straight face, making him laugh more.

The waitress brings him some napkins while trying to not laugh at him. As she does Annabeth shakes her head at mason and asks the waitress for a to-go box, while I ask for the two tickets (one with Annabeth and I, one with Mason and Emiley).

Shortly after I'm handing Annabeth the keys and asking her to go get the truck started –with unnecessary puppy dog eyes- while mason and I pay. Once the girls walk outside I turn towards the register to pay, soon mason is talks to me, "So what are you guys?"  
>"What do you mean?" I ask.<p>

"You and Annabeth, what are you guys?"

There is a pause for a moment and I look at the ground while I put my wallet away, having finished paying. Then I look up at him, "If you figure that out, please tell me."

Then I leave him to pay, and I go check on the girls. Who I found trying to do chest bumps in the parking lot…

End flashback

"Percy?"  
>"Yeah," Annabeth's voice breaks me out of my memories.<p>

"You alright? You kind of zoned out there."

"Oh, yeah I'm fine." I noticed her shivering, "are you cold? Yeah, you are. Here." I give her my coat –praying silently that she doesn't find the deck of 52 Reasons in the inside pocket- and lead her into the truck, where it's warm. And we sit for a while. Then get bored and thirsty, so we drive to get drinks, singing all the way. Then we get back to her house and sit for a while again.

At some point I ask her to come sit on my lap. I like when she does, it's almost as close to her as I can get. She gives me a look, but moves over nonetheless. I wrap my arms around her and don't move for a very long time, happy to hold her. Soon she leans down and kisses me, and I kiss back. She takes my coat off her shoulders and puts it in the backseat, grabbing the blanket I keep back there and throwing it over our head smiling. Then she leans back my seat, kissing me continually, how it always should be.

The days went by fairly quickly after that. I'd be happy when with Annabeth, and long for her when I wasn't. That's how it always had been and always will be. She means the world to me. Once, she was arguing with me, she was telling me that I need to learn to be happy when she's not with me. I told her that's impossible. Because while I know that she is a very strong woman, I'm constantly scared of what might happen when she's not with me. And considering our history, can you really blame me?

However, I came to a conclusion, if we lived together, and I could be there when she lays her head at night, and I can be there in all the little moments, maybe I'll relax a little bit. But for now, I'm terrified.

We argued for a little while, her wanting me to be happy all the time, and me wanting her to be safe all the time. I told her my decision making process, which has come to dictate every thought I have.

First and foremost, what she needs, then what Mom needs, then what she wants, then what mom wants, then what the people I love need, and then what I want.

She argued that I can't always put myself last. I responded saying, "I'm not, there's things that come after that." She told me I can't always put my needs last, I said, "I'm not, they're listed right there, in sequential order. Those are the things that I need.

After that she didn't say anything more about it.

Thanksgiving is next week, which (in short) means only two days of school next week, considering today is Friday, that sounds pretty good to me. Annabeth has had a bad day all day- meaning I have too- and I'm not driving her home for now because I have to go to wrestling practice after school (I've decided it's the closest to staying battle ready as I will get) which is really bringing my mood down. It seems that I never get to see Annabeth as much anymore, though I know that's not really true. It almost feels like she's just kind of slipping away….

…and I can't hold on enough most of the time.

I'm confused.

**There you go everybody. If the updates get a little slower it's because we've caught up to the present and well, I have to wait for something to happen. **

**Please review.**

**AC out.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here we go people. Two things to say,**

**Duct tape is a type of tape, **_**Duck Tape**_** is a brand of **_**duct tape.**_** I swear if somebody comments about that in this chapter I'm going to flip.**

**This is the last chapter, hope you enjoy it. I know how the story ends now.**

**I do not own Percy Jackson in any way.**

I never saw Annabeth over the next weekend. But I did Monday and Tuesday at school. And I went to her house for a couple hours after practice both days, nothing very interesting ever happened, we just enjoyed each other's company.

Wednesday I went over there too, we baked stuff for her family on thanksgiving. I was going to spend the day with my mom and Paul, and she was spending it with her family. Baking was fun, we got flour like, everywhere… and we never even had a fight with it, so I don't know how it got so messy.

Thursday went by pretty quickly. Mom and I have a tradition, it's dumb, but kind of nice. We like to say one thing we are thankful for, and then think of one more without saying it. Mom said, "I'm thankful that I have you," while smiling at me. Corny, yes, but she's a mom, she can do that. Paul said he was thankful that we were all safe and healthy. And I was thankful for the people I love being in my life. As for the thing I thought of but didn't say, it was really the same thing simply more specific, I'm thankful for Annabeth being with me. Maybe not _with me, _with me…. I don't really know what we're doing right now. But whatever it is, I'm thankful for it. Because any contact with her, no matter how painful, is the new greatest moment in my life.

Thanksgiving dinner flew by.

Today is Saturday, it's about noon and I'm waiting on Mason and Grover to show up at my house. Annabeth is busy and can't hang out today, so we did yesterday…. and plan to tomorrow…

Hey, no amount of time with her is enough so I see no problem with seeing her as much as I can, almost every day. Grover showed up first so we started playing a video game while we waited on Mason.

Soon he got there and grabbed an extra controller to play with us. All the while singing a song I'm fairly certain he made up. Mason is a bit of an odd duck, but nice enough. After what felt like a couple of hours I got a text from Annabeth saying she was going to bed –we had been talking through text already, like most of the time. I looked at the clock, it was already 10:30.

So I sent her the same text I always do when she's going to bed: "Alright, goodnight baby. Call if you need anything, I don't care what time it is. I love you."

I sigh as I put my phone back and pick up the controller again. I notice my friends giving me worried looks. "What?" I ask them, not unkindly. Grover shakes his head sadly and looks back towards the TV. Mason however continues to look at me before saying, "So, do you two still say I love you before bed?"

I give him a strange look, "Well yeah, it's a true statement."

"Yeah, I guess so. You guys confuse me."

I offer a bit of a sad smile, "me too bud," with that I un-pause the game and commence to massacre them.

A couple hours later I stand up to stretch, I look at the clock and notice it's almost two. I turn to my friends, "So, are we going to sleep or not tonight? Doesn't matter to me I'm just hanging out with Annabeth tomorrow. But if we're not, let's get some food and soda."

And that is how we started a long night.

It's about 6:30 now and I'm making some eggs for everybody. Mom and Paul haven't woken up yet and Grover and Mason are talking to me as I cook. We had done a lot last night. We got back home from our soda and food run about 3. From then till four thirty (ish) we played video games. Then I got out the big guns. By big guns, I mean Annabeth's and mine favorite board game, Risk…she beats me every time obviously. Since she's not here however, it's my time to shine. We played a couple rounds, then got bored and made up new rules, incorporating Navy (my idea). Then we played for several hours till we got hungry again, which is why I'm making eggs now.

We sat in the quiet and ate for a while after that. Starting about 7 I kept a closer eye on my phone, waiting for when Annabeth would text me, signaling that she is awake and I can talk to her.

Annabeth texted me about 7:45 and we started talking. Grover and Mason planned to stay until about noon, so when she said she was busy until about 1 I wasn't too upset.

Noon came around and I ran my friends out of here. And then I got in the shower to clean up a little bit for Annabeth. Thirty or so minutes later I was getting dressed, and then I gave mom a kiss and went to pick up Annabeth. I had a pretty full day planned, so I had to go get an energy drink from the gas station before I get her.

Soon enough I was talking politely with her dad while I waited for her to come out. Eventually she did and we smiled at each other as she did. We walked out the door and into my truck before heading to the closest Walmart. I needed to get some things.

On the way there I noticed Annabeth was in a bit of a stupor, when I questioned her about it she said she was just in a bad mood. So I thought for a bit then said, "Hmm, well, prepare to not be any more, I Have three plans to fix it."

She laughed a bit and asked what they were, I said I wouldn't tell her so she changed the subject. "Well then what are we going to get?"

I smiled, "Duck Tape"

She gave me a worried look and didn't say anything because we had just parked and I got out of the car.

"So," I said, "Plan A for cheering you up first, then we go buy what we came for, got it?" I nudged her playfully and she smiled back at me.

As soon as we got inside the door I made a beeline for the toy section, and grinned as she groaned from beside me.

Within minutes I found the isle I wanted and went down it. Halfway down I Stopped and picked up the Nerf swords. Handing her one I said, "If you can get past me, I'll both let you stop fighting, and I'll take you to Plan B."

She said, "Technically it would be phase two of plan A. To call it "Plan B" would be to imply that Plan A didn't work. Which it is," then she lounged at me sword first.

We ran around like that for a couple of minutes. Then had to stop when we got dirty looks from the employees, and mothers of children… and children.

So we went and bought Duck Tape –one roll of brown and two of green- and left, getting in my truck and heading to Plan B…er, Phase 2 I mean.

About ten seconds down the road she asks where we're going.

I chuckle and tell her to be patient. A few minutes later I pull into a parking lot and she makes exited sounds. I stopped at both an ice cream bar and a pizza place.

Dinner of champions.

Got our food and dairy products and then got in the truck again and went to my house, where Phase 3 would commence, even though she was already quite happy.

Two hours later she stood triumphantly in front of our project, and Phase 3.

Because its December mom wants to put up a tree. Because I don't like putting up trees, I decided to make one, and because Annabeth loves arts and crafts, we did, out of Duck Tape.

We laid it down in strips on a big piece of paper to make it, then pinned it to the wall, it was about my height.  
>I looked at the clock, "Oh, crap. Its already seven we got to go."<p>

She gave me a weird look, "Go where?"

I smiled, "To the movies, I'm taking you to see Mokingjay"

She made a very girly and un-Annabeth like noise, hugged me, and ran outside to my truck.

A couple of hours later we're driving home and she thanked me for the nice day. I looked at her, "It doesn't have to end yet you know."

She cocked her head and smirked knowingly at me, "Where could we even do anything?"

I grinned, "So you want to?"

"Of course I do, but-"

I cut her off smiling, "I know a place," and then I turned off the highway onto a back road. Then onto a dirt road, thin into a field, by a creek. I got out of the truck and lead her to the water, "Take your clothes off" I said. She started to protest but when I started to remove mine she followed suit. Once we were in only our underclothing we got in the water. Where we got in it was only knee deep, but it would get deeper as I lead her further downstream.

After a couple of minutes of walking she asked once again where we are going. I simply smiled at her, and rounded a corner.

Around the corner was our destination. It was the only deep area of the creek, getting just over my head and widening to about 20 meters. There were trees all around, secluding us. And even though it was the dead of night the full moon was so bright you could see perfectly fine and it created a sparkling effect on the surface of the dead still water.

In the middle of the small pool was a very much smaller island. On the small island were some blankets and pillows I had laid out quickly before I picked her up.

She gasped at the beauty of it all and hugged me. I gestured to the bedding and smiled. She smiled sweetly in return and walked over to the small island.

We laid down together comfortably, with her on my chest, both of us looking up.

After a while she moved on top of me, and leaned down to kiss a smiling me.

Later I woke up. I had my arms around Annabeth and we were laying on our side, spooning. She was still asleep, and it was very dark. I sighed, I should get her home, I don't even want to know what time it is.

So I picked her up and carried her to my truck, leaving the bedding behind.

As I cursed after stubbing my toe on a rock for what felt like the three-thousandth time I heard Annabeth chuckle and say, "I love you"

"Yeah, yeah," I responded, "you're just lucky I like you." There was content silence after that.

Monday and Tuesday were boring, nothing really happened. Wednesday was the next day Annabeth and I planned to hang out together outside of school.

It was about 8 o'clock on Wednesday night and we were sitting on my tailgate switching off between joking around and content silence.

At the moment, silence reigned. Then she broke it, "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, anything love."

"Does it feel like we're back together? Or maybe like we never broke up?"

I thought for a moment, "I know we act like a couple still. And I know if you asked I would in a heartbeat."

Silence reigned again for a moment, then she said, "Well then… If you'll still have me after all the bullshit I've put you through. I'd love to be your girlfriend. Officially anyway."

There was no pause for silence to take over before I answered, "Oh, gods of course I would."

Then, I kissed her, Annabeth. My girlfriend, who I love, for many more than 52 reasons.

**Tada, there you go people. It's over. However, I do have an idea for an epilogue if one –just one- person reviews and asks for it. Just one.**

**Also, I will be going back at some point and rewriting it to fix a couple of things. Mainly take it out of the demigod world and make it AU. Just so it flow's a little better. Gods don't really play a part in this story anyway. Alright, I'm done,**

**AC, out.**

**P.S. Alex, if you read this (which I doubt you will), I apologize that I failed to capture even ten percent of the feelings I have for you in this book. I love you more than printed or spoken words can say.**


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